Here is my last apple recipe for this year’s apple season. My parents’ friends, the Lockwoods, introduced us to this recipe from Bon Appetite years ago, and my mouth still waters just thinking about it. The topping totally makes this cake.

3 C flour (I use spelt or kamut, but you can use all-purpose or a mixture)

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

Fold 3 1/2 cups apples, diced or grated, into the above mix. Turn into a greased and floured tube pan and bake 1 1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (May take longer than 1 1/4 hours.)

Topping:

Butter, brown sugar (rapadura does NOT work for this), white sugar (or agave nectar, but it will be more runny), and half-and-half — 3 Tbsp. each.

Vanilla — 1/2 tsp.

Almond or walnut pieces — 1 cup

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT THE NUTS in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil for 1 minute. Pour over cake immediately and then sprinkle the nuts over the topping.

Drought weights the trees, and from the farmhouse eaves
The locust, pulse-beat of the summer day,
Throbs; and the lane, that shambles under leaves
Limp with the heat–a league of rutty way –
Is lost in dust; and sultry scents of hay
Breathe from the panting meadows heaped with sheaves.